‘Deposit’ by Yann Mingard

The Swiss photographer spent four years documenting data centres, vaults and sperm banks across the world

Creavia, France, 2011. A bull named Jocko Besné (shown behind the screen) was the star of this bull sperm laboratory. The product of research and selective breeding, Jocko produced more than 1.7 million straws of semen – and sired more than 350,000 dairy cows. He died in 2012

Mount10, Switzerland, 2010. The entrance of the data centre known as the ‘Swiss Fort Knox’, housed in a former military bunker. With 26,000 former bunkers and a reputation for discretion, Switzerland is a coveted location for data storage

Zoo Basel, Switzerland, 2013. Zoo Basel, which houses more than 7,000 animals, began building a blood and tissue bank in 2013. Here a Malayan sun bear undergoes a biopsy to provide a sample for low-temperature preservation. In the wild, the Malayan sun bear is threatened by deforestation and commercial hunting

KrioRus, Alabushevo, near Moscow, Russia, 2010. Founded in 2005, this Russian cryonics company preserves human and animal corpses in liquid nitrogen in the hope that scientists will soon be able to revive bodies and brains. Here is a crate containing human bodies in crushed ice, awaiting cryopreservation

Conservatoire Botanique National de Brest, France, 2011. The Conservatoire is best known for its large collection of endangered or extinct plants. Here is the extremely rare Tanaecium crucigerum var martinique